Tamsui (Chinese Taipei), Oct 6 (IANS): Australia’s Scott Hend gave a lesson on how to master the treacherous conditions when he posted a two-over-par 74 to win the $600,000 Taiwan Masters at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club here Sunday.

Faced with the onslaught of Typhoon Fitow where torrential rain and gusty winds up to 55 mph posed the greatest threat, Hend relied on his experience of playing in Scotland last week to lift his fourth Asian Tour title with a winning total of three-under-285.

Sam Cyr of the United States enjoyed his best result on the Asian Tour this season with a second place after battling to a 77 while Bangladesh’s Siddikur and Thailand’s Arnond Vongvanij shared third on matching 291.

Unlike his previous victories which were all from come-behinds, there was no need for Hend to surmount a late challenge this week.

“It’s nice to win from the front instead of always coming from behind. To be able to win this tournament was always a tough mental challenge especially under those conditions we had this week,” said Hend, who took home the winner’s prize cheque of $120,000.

“I got my wish when I saw how windy it was out here. I wanted the wind to blow but I didn’t want it to blow that hard. I thought if the wind blows, it’ll be hard for somebody to shoot in the low 60s and try to catch me. The only problem was for me not to shoot high 70s,” said Hend, who posted rounds of 69, 72, 70 and 74.

Leaderboard:

285 - Scott HEND (AUS) 69-72-70-74
289 - Sam CYR (USA) 70-69-73-77
291 - Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA) 75-73-70-73, SIDDIKUR (BAN) 72-71-71-77
293 - Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) 72-70-72-79
294 - LU Wen-teh (TPE) 73-75-72-74, BAEK Seuk-hyun (KOR) 73-70-74-77
295 - Matthew STIEGER (AUS) 74-71-74-76, Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 72-76-70-77
296 - Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 72-75-78-71, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 76-70-73-77
297 - Elmer SALVADOR (PHI) 73-74-76-74, Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 71-78-74-74, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 75-72-75-75, Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA) 75-73-73-76